132 LORD READING

placed on their loyalty. There never has been such plain
speaking in regard to any political proposal of our day,
and responsible Ministers should pay heed to it while there
is still time to prevent the most serious trouble and avert
endless mischief. It will be impossible for them to excuse
themselves later on in times of internal turmoil and strife
by alleging that they were not fully apprized and warned
of the deep feeling aroused in the breasts of over sixty million
people by a proposal which seems to that vast community
an outrage and a crime.

" There is reason to believe that those persons who will
direct the British policy in regard to Constantinople at the
present juncture are labouring under a curious delusion as
to one of the salient facts. It seems that they are per-
suaded that the Moslem World out of Turkey regards the
Sultan of the Ottomans merely as the Head of their religion,
a sort of Pope ; and that it is immaterial whether he remain
in Constantinople, or is transferred to Broussa or elsewhere.
This view is based on ignorance or misapprehension. The
Sultan is not a Pope, he is the Caliph, a sovereign leader.
The British Government has been told this repeatedly by
every responsible spokesman in the name of Islam, and in
this matter it is more important to know and appreciate
what the Moslems of India say and feel than to be told
what persons in Downing Street believe. They have no
right to believe in this matter anything but the over-
whelming evidence that is exposed to their eyes and poured
into their ears. A prominent member of the Mahomedan
party said recently at a public meeting at Allahabad that
he seriously doubted whether the British Government
realized the feelings of the Mussulman community at the
present time, or knew what they were talking about. These
are ominous words that should not be treated with
indifference."

Before Lord Reading arrived in India he had made him-
self fully acquainted with the views of the Indian Mahome-
dans, and had thoroughly mastered all the points in his
frequent discussions with the Secretary of State, Mr. E. S.
Montagu, who was frankly and whole heartedly the champion